Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Octavia Tea
Tea Description:
This is sweet and creamy with decadent caramel. It’s certainly rich with flavour, but balanced out enough by the profile of the dark oolong that you can enjoy every last sip without getting overwhelmed. The oolong lends an amazing roasted character that blends perfectly with the hazelnut.
Learn more about this tea here.
Learn more about subscribing to Amoda’s Monthly Tea Tasting Box here.
Taster’s Review:
Oh … yum! This Caramel Toffee Flavored Oolong Tea from Octavia Tea is so good, and as I’m sipping on this tea and writing this review, this song came on my Pandora Radio – a perfect tune for this tea experience!
I had high expectations going in to this tea experience. With a tea called “Caramel Toffee Oolong,” well, it better be good, right? And it is.
The caramel/toffee notes are very well-defined and they meld so beautifully with the dark Oolong. The Oolong has a slightly smoky character that complements the toffee. It’s a sweet, smooth and silky Oolong. I typically find that darker Oolong teas have more of a fruity character than a floral one, and that is true of this tea base.
The caramel and toffee bring a sweet flavor and a hint of bitter burnt sugar taste to the cup. The natural nutty tones of the Oolong are enhanced with the notes of hazelnut flavoring, creating a very delicious, dessert-y sort of flavor that would make a great next-to-no calorie substitution for something fattening. It tastes like it should be naughty but it isn’t.
A truly decadent and delicious tea treat – I’m glad that this one was in my Amoda Tea Tasting Box for this month!
Pumpkin Toffee Dragonwell Green Tea Blend from 52Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Tea Description:
This week’s tea of the week tastes like rich pumpkin pie with a crust made entirely of sweet, delicious toffee. I don’t know if anyone could really make a pie like that, but I would love to try one. In the meantime, I’m going to continue enjoying rich sips of this yummy tea. The Dragonwell green tea adds just the right notes of sweet nuttiness to compliment the toffee and contrast with the pumpkin. All in all, this is a really special treat you’ll love serving to your guests, if you’re generous enough to share.
Learn more about this blend here.
Taster’s Review:
YUM! A couple of weeks ago, I reviewed 52Teas Ginger Pumpkin Cheesecake Honeybush, and I really enjoyed that. So I was a little surprised when 52Teas announced another pumpkin tea so soon after the honeybush tisane, but, I’m certainly glad that Frank (the chief Zoomdweebie at 52Teas) decided to blend this Pumpkin Toffee Dragonwell Green Tea Blend. It’s so yummy!
With this blend, I can taste more of the pumpkin-y flavors than I remember tasting with the aforementioned honeybush blend. Perhaps it’s because there’s not so much emphasis on the spices in this blend, that it allows more of the squash flavor to come forth. Or perhaps it’s the Dragonwell green tea base that melds in a very beautiful way with the pumpkin notes. Then again, it could be a combination of these two things.
All I know is that with the very first sip of this tea, the pumpkin was a strong flavor. I taste notes of spice as well, a softer cinnamon note and perhaps a hint of ginger too. The spices here are gentle, just enough to accentuate the pumpkin without the tea becoming all about the spice.
And then there is the toffee. Let me say that again, because I didn’t emphasize: And then there is the TOFFEE. I’ve got to tell you, that as soon as I read the name of this blend … my mouth began to water and my taste buds began to dance the happy dance. I love toffee, and the idea of a toffee pumpkin pie makes me want to go out and FIND THAT PIE. I mean, seriously? How much yummier can you get than a toffee pumpkin pie?
And the toffee notes are nicely portrayed in this blend. It offers a sweet, buttery, caramel-y sort of flavor to the pumpkin without overwhelming the other flavors here. This cup offers just the right balance of pumpkin, spice, toffee AND green tea notes to satisfy the green tea lover’s sweet tooth.
I like this served hot, but, it is also quite good as it cools. After I finished my first cup, I went to my teapot which had about a half a cup of tea left in it, so I poured that (because I didn’t want to waste a drop of this yummy stuff!) and it was cold. Maybe not ice cold, but, it certainly was not hot or even warm. And all the flavors were still present and accounted for. So this one can be served hot or iced and still be tasty!
With Open Eyes Green Tea Blend from Butiki Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Butiki Teas
Tea Description:
With Open Eyes pairs our premium Hangzhou Dragon Well with the flavor of fresh picked strawberries, soothing ginger, and subtle buttery toffee. The chestnut, damp moss, and marine notes of the Hangzhou Dragon Well mingle with and compliment the strawberry, ginger, and toffee notes. Adding a little bit of brown crystal sugar will enhance the strawberry and toffee notes while subduing the ginger notes.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Yummy! This tea is really awesome! With Open Eyes Green Tea Blend from Butiki Teas is a sweet, nutty Dragon Well tea combined with the flavor of strawberry, ginger, and toffee to create a really unique and deliciously flavored blend!
What I’m noticing immediately with this blend is that the ginger is not overpowering. It is a very subtle warmth that I’m getting from the ginger here, just enough spice to keep things interesting but not enough for it to come off as fiery or spicy.
The Dragon Well is sweet and nutty with notes of vegetation. The strawberry notes are really delightful Sweet with just a hint of berry tart. The strawberry in this cup reminds me a lot of the strawberries you’ll experience “mid-season” … when they’re at their sweetest peak.
And then there is the buttery toffee! Oh my goodness! I would not have thought of combining ginger and strawberry with the flavor of toffee – but it works so well together. The toffee adds a little bit of sweetness and buttery creaminess to the cup and these notes marry so well with the natural nutty tones of the Dragon Well.
The flavors all meld so beautifully together, creating a very unified taste that it almost tastes as though they are one flavor rather than several individual notes. Everything is subtly flavored and well balanced to create a very seamless tasting experience. Another awesome tea from Butiki Teas!
Toffee Chocolate Hazelnut Black Tea Blend from Inspired Leaf
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Inspired Leaf
Tea Description:
A buttery, decadent treat with yummy nutty notes.
Learn more about this blend here.
Taster’s Review:
Yummy! How could I resist a tea called Toffee Chocolate Hazelnut? I mean, seriously? Toffee? Chocolate??? Hazelnut? YES PLEASE! This black tea blend from Inspired Leaf is as tasty as the name promises it to be!
The black tea base is a robust yet smooth-tasting black tea. It is rich enough to hold its own with the flavors in this cup, but, it isn’t an overly aggressive tea that seeks to gain a lot of the spotlight. It is content to let the flavors do most of the talking here, but it still manages to get itself noticed.
The first flavor I notice is a lovely buttery tone … very butter toffee-ish! It has a sweet, creamy taste to it and the creaminess here is satisfying enough to where you don’t need to add dairy to have a latte-ish taste to the cup … although a splash of milk certainly doesn’t hurt … and does enhance the overall creaminess! I really like the buttery tone to this tea, it may just be my favorite aspect of the drink.
And that’s coming from a chocoholic! The chocolate notes are a bit subdued here in comparison to the buttery tones. But the buttery tones are so delicious, it’s difficult to complain about a little less chocolate. That said, more chocolate is always better … and this tea would definitely be improved with more chocolate. The ingredient list has carob chips as one of the ingredients, and personally, I think I’d rather see the carob chips omitted and maybe some extra cacao nibs added or how about some cacao shells! I still think that cacao shells are the absolute BEST way to flavor a chocolate tea!
I find that the chocolate notes do intensify as I continue to sip, and they do eventually become almost as strong as the buttery toffee notes. Nice!
The Hazelnut notes are lovely here. In my first couple of sips, there was a delicious toasty note that was strong … reminiscent of the flavor of freshly toasted hazelnuts. It was really yummy. After those first few sips, that strong toasty note sort of melded into the background as the butter notes began to emerge, but, the toasty notes were very memorable and really captured the essence of hazelnut. The hazelnut is still a present flavor, it’s just not as prominent as those first few sips.
By mid-cup, the flavors seem to unite and become a collective “Toffee Chocolate Hazelnut” flavor … rather than tasting the individual notes, this is more like a creamy, nutty, buttery, chocolate-y taste that is almost sinful!
This one might just be my favorite that I’ve tried thus far from Inspired Leaf. And I do like the inspiration from this tea:
Inspiration No. 31: A little chocolate can improve your state of mind.
Agreed! This tea is a definite must-try for those who enjoy dessert teas!
Butterscotch Toffee Black Tea Blend from Compass Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Compass Teas
Tea Description:
A Brand New Dessert tea! We suggest sweetening it with Amber Sugar Gems.Ingredients: Black Tea, Camellia Sinensis Stems, Sunflower Petals, Safflower Petals, Flavoring
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
When I measured out this Butterscotch Toffee Black Tea Blend from Compass Teas, I was kind of surprised to see all the stems in the tea. I thought to myself, this is a really “stemmy” tea … which is sometimes indicative of a poor quality tea, but, in this case, I don’t think that’s true. After reading the description and ingredient list on the Compass Teas Website, and seeing “Camellia Sinensis Stems” as one of the ingredients, I realize this is supposed to be a stemmy tea!
My first couple of sips of this tea … all I could really taste was a strong, earthy, somewhat “roasted” tea flavor, but nothing that resembled either butterscotch or toffee. Then I allowed it to cool for a few minutes (maybe five minutes? The tea was still pleasantly hot, but not piping hot), and the flavors began to pop. Now I could taste a rich, buttery taste along with a sweet, caramel-y note. YUM!
And even though this is a sweet tasting tea, and even with a name like Butterscotch Toffee … I’m not finding this to be a cloyingly sweet tea. It is definitely what I’d call a dessert tea, but, it doesn’t taste too sweet.
I’m also gratified to find that the strongest flavors of this cup are not the butterscotch or the toffee … but the tea! The tea is a robust black tea … it’s good and strong, and I think that the stems of the Camellia Sinensis gives this tea a pleasantly “roasted” kind of flavor that almost mimics a coffee-like richness. This is a tea that would be very satisfying served as a breakfast tea, it has that hearty flavor that I want first thing in the morning … and that it is a Butterscotch Toffee tea … makes it a delightful indulgence too.
I recommend trying this as a latte too … it makes a really decadent treat!